Editor's note: As the San Francisco 49ers prepare to do battle with the New York Giants for a spot in Super Bowl XLVI — their first NFC Championship appearance since 1997 — we though it would be fun to turn back the clock a few years and dig up the following July 2008 interview with four-time Super Bowl champ and NFL MVP quarterback Joe Montana. He discusses with FG's Vic Williams his love for playing golf with his kids, where he loves to get away to play, why he steers clear of most celebrity events and what he then viewed as the ingredients necessary for the 49ers to get back to the postseason.

It’s not every day you run into a four-time Super Bowl winner and three-time MVP standing in line at the DMV, but then again, not everybody is a regular Joe like Mr. Montana.

“P-T-F-L-E,” he read to the eye-chart clerk at an undisclosed location somewhere in Northern Californa, as FG listened in over his cell phone. “Z-S-P-E-D. E-C-P-F-D. No, no contact lenses, I’ve still got good vision.”

In our eyes, not-so-Broadway Joe will always have perfect eyesight. The same guy who could read defenses like nobody’s business during his nearly 20-year, Hall-of-Fame NFL career now sets his gaze on several business pursuits — raising horses, growing wine grapes in Sonoma County for his Montagia label, investing in real estate — and remains one of the most private and family-oriented of towering sports celebrities. He and his wife, Jennifer, are on the tail end of raising their four kids who range in age from 15 to 19 — the oldest will be a walk-on quarterback this fall at his old man’s alma mater, Notre Dame — so a little more down time beckons. Which means finding just the right second-home getaway that just might have some world-class golf in the neighborhood and maintains a certain atmosphere of remote yet engaged privacy, which is how the fiftysomething Montana prefers to live his life.

So, did he settle on his namesake state, where so many movers and shakers are making their mark? No way. He zeroed in on the eastern outskirts of Bend, Oregon, where the stunning enclave of Pronghorn is in full development flower, with two eat-off-the-turf gorgeous golf courses at members’ disposal — the first by Jack Nicklaus, which opened in 2005, the second a Tom Fazio wonder that debuted last year. Montana plans to spend as much time up there in the Central Oregon high desert as he can, but first things first — updating his ID.

“I’m at the DMV, and I might get called any minute,” he told us, almost apologetically. “I got one of those mail-in deals, but I have to come in here to pay it, get a new license and new photo.”

So, why Pronghorn?

Initially I was involved with some property development up there. I’d heard a lot about it, but until you get up there and see really how spectacular the area is, and the golf course itself, it’s really hard to explain. My father and a bunch of relatives ended up going up through there, and of all the places they’ve played, they said it was the most spectacular. They said it was the most beautiful thing they’ve seen in a long time. And they play a lot more golf than me.

Which course is better?

That’s the nice thing, they are so different. You can go there and play however you feel that day. The overall beauty is what it’s really about. The golf is great, but you can take it all in. My favorite hole is [Fazio No. 8], where they hit the lava tube. That thing is spectacular. A wine cave there would be awesome.”

We’re sure you have memberships elsewhere, but what is different about Pronghorn?

I think it’s an overall package of an area that’s still kind of growing. A lot of places you play, everything’s fairly grown up, been there a long time. This is one of those places people will be talking about for a long time, and being able to be there from the beginning makes it a little more special — that you knew about it before a lot of other people.”

Have you trekked up there with any fellow former players or other guys you hang out with?

A couple guys have gone up there who have asked about it. I sent them up there, though I didn’t go up there with them myself. I’m chasing around two boys right now, so it’s hard to get around. They’re both playing football, one’s getting ready for college. And anymore golf takes 5 1/2 or 6 hours around here [Bay Area]. That’s the beauty of being up there, too. It takes a decent amount of time to play.

Where do you play in the Bay Area when you manage to get out?

My wife used to live in the wine country, and there’s a place up there called Mayacama, in Windsor. But down here, I lived by Stanford and played there a million times. Olympic Club. Sharon Heights. Lake Merced. San Francisco Club.

How does golf fit in your life?

It’s a combination now, but in most cases it’s a business tool. My wife goes, ‘why do you have to go to lunch, dinner or play golf?’ Because that’s where business is done. Sure you’re having fun, but you get a long time out there, you get to know poeple and they get to know you. So mostly it’s business right now — a little bit of fun for the kids, but mostly business.”

We’re still jumping for joy over that last-second touchdown pass you threw to John Taylor in Super Bowl XXIV. Does playing golf conjure up the same competitive juices as football?

You always are competitive, but I’m not the greatest golfer in the world. I’m not one of those guys who plays all the time, because I don’t have that kind of time. Right now it’s all about getting home by 3 o’clock, watching my boys play and trying to work at the same time. It puts a dent in my trying to get out there and play. But when I do, I like to try to be competitive. I hadn’t played in months, but when I got out there recently and played nine I shot a 41, so I was pretty happy.”

Why are most QBs so good at golf?

I don’t thing it’s just quarterbacks, but athletes in general. If you watch a lot of these tournaments, there are a lot of athletes in them. They get pointed out, because we’re just better than most ... just kidding. They just have a competitiveness. Guys like Jerry Rice, Barkley is fun to watch. A lot of guys are playin’. It’s not just quarterbacks.”

I’m sure you’ve been invited to play in the American Century Celebrity Championship at Tahoe. Why don’t you ever go?

I haven’t in a competitive situation like that since I hit somebody many years ago. I can’t get over that.

How did you take up the game? Was it a family thing?

I grew up playing with my dad back there [in his home town of Monongahela, Pa]. He got me started. He played with my daughter just yesterday. He plays all the time now, lives up in the Wine Country. He’s fun to watch ’cause he swings hard, too hard. I keep telling him, ‘slow down!’”

Have you ever pulled off any golf shots that would rank, say, with “The Catch?”

The only kind of shot that would do that for me would be a hole-in-one, and I haven’t had any of those. But you always hit those shots in the last three or four holes, even if you’ve had a terrible round. ‘OK, maybe I’ve got this figured out, maybe I want to come back again.’ Even if the whole day has been miserable. We’ve all had shots like that. They happen every round. There’s more than one or two shots that make me want to quit, unfortunately.

You’ve performed at a high level in front of millions of people and always kept your cool. Is your temperament on the golf course similar to the pressure cooker of Super Bowls with all those people watching?

I swear to you, ever since I hit somebody, it’s different when people are around. You don’t think it affects you, but it does. It’s one of those things that you just have to deal with. When you play it’s competitive and you want to win, but I get a lot more nervous. It’s a lot more nerve-racking when you’re doing something that’s out of your element. If I did it a lot more I’d feel more comfortable.

Who’s the best golfer among football players you’ve teed it up with?

Probably Danny [Marino]. John [Elway], I’ve played with those guys. And Jerry has turned out to be pretty darned good.

Any part of your game that stands out?

I hit the ball decent off the tee, but those guys smack it. I just can’t swing that hard, or have the right timing down. I’ll get a couple good ones in a round, but I just try to be in the fairway. What’s funny, I was just telling my older son — we were just in the Cayman Islands on vacation — and I told him, “For me, no mater what happens, one part of my game is on and one part is off. If I’m hitting the ball off the tee in the fairway, I can’t hit an iron to save my life.” I’m just like everybody else, the everyday hacker. I’d say I’m more consistent with my middle irons. I got rid of my 3-wood, I got tired of trying to hit it.

Speaking of being on vacation, are there any golf getaways, besides Pronghorn, that you like to frequent?

When I go on vacation, I really try to just set everything down that I typically do. A lot of guys like to play 36 holes a day. For one thing, my knee could never take that many days in a row, let alone 36 or more in one day. I basically try to leave things at home, unless he kids want to go have fun.

Do you ever watch golf on the tube?

I love watching golf when I’m working out. It just passes the time and I love watching them hit shots. Once in a while they’ll hit an errant one, and that makes me feel better. But I really enjoy watching their skills, at that level. You go out and hack it around and you appreciate what they do and understand how difficult the game is. Tiger’s been on a tremendous roll, but a lot of guys have been stepping up. It’s fun to watch again.

On to football for a minute. What do Niners need to get them back in playoff form?

I think consistency is one thing, and that all starts with their offense. Their defense is not where it was a couple of years ago, just starting to come together. But what I think they really need, the big thing offensively, is another guy on the outside who can make plays, a wide receiver. They have good receivers, but not a great one, who brings everyone else up to another level. We had Freddy Solomon and Dwight Clark, but when Jerry got there it made a huge difference on the field. That definitely elevated our offense.

We heard you give a moving tribute to Bill Walsh at his memorial service. Did you ever get the chance to get out on the course with him?

I played with Bill when he was just starting to play. He was such a perfectionist, it drove him crazy how difficult the game was to pick up at that age, or just trying to find a way to get better. We just had a good time.

And as your longtime coach and friend, what would Bill’s advice be to you about how to improve your game?

He’d just say, “quit!”

**READ OUR JULY 2010 COVER STORY ON JERRY RICE**